Almost 1 in 5 of North's school staff work in buildings with asbestos - shock GMB poll
More than 1 in 5 of the North’s school staff are working in buildings with asbestos problems, a shocking new survey has revealed.
GMB Union polled hundreds of school support staff across the country in September 2026, including teaching assistants, catering staff, caretakers and admin workers.
A total of 22 per cent per cent said they worked in schools which had problems with asbestos.
Other results include:
- Two thirds (66 per cent) work in buildings with a leaky roof
- Four in ten (39 per cent) work in buildings with damp or mould
- 66 per cent work in buildings with cracked walls
- 20 per cent lack pens
- 26 per cent lack books for children of all ages
- 28 per cent have no sports field
- 48 per cent lack access to core PE facilities
- 30 per cent lack access to textbooks
- 16 per cent lack access to paper
The findings were discussed at TUC’s annual conference in Brighton on Monday (September 14, 2026) where GMB is moving a motion around school support staff pay.
Stacey Booth, GMB National Officer, said: “School support staff have been repugnantly underpaid for years as the educate and care for our children.
“Meanwhile they are force to work in unsafe, leaky building – riddled with asbestos and mould.
“GMB members will today call on the TUC to back their fight to for fair pay and an end to academisation.
“But we call on Ministers to invest in our school buildings and our children’s futures like the last Labour Government did.”